The recent spread of online disinformation has been profound and has played a central role in the growth of populist sentiments around the world. Facilitating its progression has been politically and economically motivated culprits who have ostensibly taken advantage of the digital freedoms available to them. At the heart of these freedoms lie social media organisations that only a few years earlier techno-optimists were identifying as catalysts of an enhanced digital democracy. In order to curtail the erosion of information, policy reform will no doubt be essential. The UK's Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Disinformation and ‘fake news’ Report and Cairncross Review, and the European Commission's Report on Disinformation are three recent examples seeking to investigate how precisely such reform policy might be implemented. Just as important is how social media organisations take on more responsibility and apply self-regulating mechanisms that stifle disinformation across their platforms (something the aforementioned reports identify). Doing so will go a long way in restoring legitimacy in these significant institutions. Facebook (which includes Instagram and Whatsapp), is the largest social media organisation in the world and must primarily bear the burden of this responsibility. The purpose of this article is to offer a descriptive account of Facebook's public announcements regarding how it tackles disinformation and fake news. Based on a qualitative content analysis covering the period November 16th 2016–March 4th 2019, this article will set out some groundwork on how to hold social media platforms more accountable for how they handle disinformation.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of TripAdvisor on reputation within the hotel industry. TripAdvisor encapsulates key themes in establishing an online reputation strategy in an evolving digital landscape. Design/methodology/approach Through the use of an exploratory case study, data were gathered primarily by means of a series of expert interviews within the hotel industry in Cyprus, today a mature holiday destination in Europe. Further data collection included a document search of presentations, annual reports, past surveys and sales and marketing literature from the examined industry. Findings Hotel communication practitioners are fully aware of the impact of social media in managing reputation. Constant monitoring, prompt responses, training and transparency were identified as key factors. Online reputation management needs to be taken into consideration when designing a comprehensive integrated communication strategy. Research limitations/implications Congruence amongst interviewees in certain areas could be on account of the homogeneity of practitioners, of their background and training and of similar organisational cultures across the locale of study. This leads to limits in the generalisations from this study’s findings. Practical implications Encouragement and training of employees were amongst the primary suggestions that emerged. An internal and external environmental scan, recognising possible strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, which could assist in the effective engagement and monitoring of the organisation’s online presence, were also suggested. Originality/value The uniqueness of the study lies in its exploration of reputation management of a well-known traveller’s platform by addressing social media content in both a proactive and reactive manner.

PurposeThis study explores how digital storytelling (DST) approaches can be used for social media campaigns to create more engaging digital content. The ability to better engage with networked publics offers benefits to entities of different scale and scope, since in doing so they establish stronger relationships with their consumers and publics.Design/methodology/approachA digital discourse analysis combined with a five-layer coded film analysis is applied to a DST video, viewed on Facebook.FindingsFour overarching and overlapping approaches are identified. These are emotional appeal based on clear human ideals, equality and simplicity of characters, simplicity and universal representations.Research limitations/implicationsSimilar studies are required across varying targeted digital stories of different length and subject matter to distinguish effectiveness.Practical implicationsDespite advanced technological capacity for audience segmentation, social media campaigns often include unengaging content. DST offers universal characteristics that can be used by entities to engage with their consumers and publics.Social implicationsDST has been used to create learning and pedagogical environments and more participative democracies. Yet its use to strategically engage with networked publics is empirically lacking. The findings of the study can facilitate more effective digital content strategies for entities of all purposes to pursue.Originality/valueFew studies have sought to deconstruct effective short form DST for strategic purposes. This study applies a methodological approach best suited for analysing digital content. The findings provide insights into how strategists and social media managers can create more engaging digital content.

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